Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that the Lone Star State has begun a billboard campaign meant to dissuade migrants from Central America and Mexico from attempting to enter the United States illegally.
A news release from the Office of Gov. Abbott states that 40 billboards have been strategically placed along the El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico border.
Gov. Abbott said in this news release that the billboards are meant to “deter illegal immigration into Texas” and will “tell the horror stories of human trafficking.”
“They implore those people in Central America to consider the violent, horrific realities of what will happen to the women and children they bring with them. Through Operation Lone Star, we have done some incredible work to stop illegal border crossers,” added Abbott.
“But this new effort is about stopping their journey from even beginning in the first place. Until President Donald Trump is back in the White House to secure our border once again, we will continue to take every step necessary to defend Texas.”
This campaign comes as Texas continues to utilize Operation Lone Star to manage the ongoing crisis along the southern border due to the high number of encounters with illegal aliens along the southern border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has stated that there were 2,135,005 encounters with illegal aliens along the southern border in the 2024 fiscal year, surpassing two million encounters each of the past three years.
Operation Lione Star is a joint task force of the Office of Gov. Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Texas National Guard meant to “fill the dangerous gaps created by the federal government’s refusal to secure the border,” according to a news release from Gov. Abbott.
One of the most well-known aspects of Operation Lone Star is the busing of illegal aliens to sanctuary cities across the country.
Gov. Abbott states that there have been nearly 120,000 illegal aliens bused to six different sanctuary cities across the country since this piece of the program began in April 2022.